Health chew toy

ABSTRACT

A vitamin and/or mineral and/or herbal enriched molded animal chew toy. The vitamins, minerals and/or herbal additives are incorporated into the molded chew toy under conditions that minimize thermal degradation of such additives. Suitable resins include starch, casein, denatured and partially hydrolyzed casein, thermoplastic polymers and mixtures thereof. In related embodiment, animal chews comprising primarily denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen are disclosed, as well as such denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen in mixture with vegetable matter, rawhide, animal meal, peanut bits/flour, casein, starch and mixtures thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to animal chews for dogs, cats andother related animals, and more particularly, to a molded, completelydigestible, nutritious animal chew, which is uniquely enriched withvitamins, minerals and/or herb additives to facilitate the delivery ofsuch ingredients to the animal through the chewing process. Suchadditives may be incorporated within starch, casein, protein/colloidsand various other polymer resins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0002] A variety of disclosures exist pertaining to the development ofedible dog chews that are digestible, nutritious along with a texturethat can be individually adjusted to suit a wide variety of a dog'spreferences or needs. Attention is therefore directed to the followingexemplary disclosures: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,180,161 “Heat Modifiable EdibleDog Chew; 6,159,516 “Method of Molding Edible Starch; 6,126,978 “EdibleDog Chew”; 6,110,521 “Wheat and Casein Dog Chew with ModifiableTexture”; 6,093,441 “Heat Modifiable Peanut Dog Chew”; 6,093,427“Vegetable Based Dog Chew”; 6,086,940 “High Starch Content Dog Chew”;6,067,941 “Animal Chew”; 6,056,991 “Turkey and Rice Dog Chew WithModifiable Texture”; 5,941,197 “Carrot Based Dog Chew”; 5,827,565“Process for Making an Edible Dog Chew”; 5,339,771 “Animal Chew ToyContaining Animal Meal; 5,240,720 “Dog Chew with Modifiable Texture”;5,200,212 “Dog Chew with Modifiable Texture”. Attention is also directedto U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,474 entitled “Application for Patent forNutriceutical Toy” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,283 entitled “Animal Chew Toyof Starch Material and Degradable Ethylene Copolymer”.

[0003] While the above certainly contribute to the body of chew productsavailable to an animal, there is nonetheless a need to improve on theabove, particularly with respect to the delivery of vitamins and/orminerals and/or herbs to the animal to ensure complete and balancednutrition.

[0004] In that context it is worth nothing that although nutritionaldiseases are not commonly seen in dogs and cats fed good-qualitycommercial rations, there still exists a need to make certain that suchanimals are provided with the appropriate overall vitamin and mineralsupplements to insure proper health. For example, even with certaincommercial rations, dogs may suffer from arthritis, in which case aglucosamine supplement may be useful. Furthermore, there have beenreports of malnutrition in dogs and cats fed “natural”, “organic” or“vegetarian diets developed by their owners, and many published recipeshave not been properly balanced using nutrient averages. See, The MerckVeterinary Manual, Eight Edition, Merck & Co. 1998, at 1624-16-43.

[0005] In addition, herbs have been more recently relied upon by humansas a dietary supplement to potentially provide health benefits such aslowering stress, fighting disease and bolstering immunity. To thereforeadvance health care for animals, there is a need to consider such herbsin a form that is enjoyable for pets to ingest.

[0006] Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide amolded chew toy for an animal that, apart from providing edible anddigestible characteristics, is enriched with vitamins/minerals and/orherbs to ensure that the animal's comprehensive and proper nutritionalneeds are maintained. In addition, it is also an object of thisinvention to strategically incorporate the vitamins/minerals and orother types of herbs in the chew toy at those locations that are morecommonly chewed upon by the animal in the course of the animal'sinteraction with the chew toy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A vitamin and/or mineral and/or herbal enriched molded animalchew toy. The vitamins, minerals and/or herbal additives areincorporated into the molded chew toy under conditions that minimizethermal degradation of such additives. The chew toy may be formed bycombining resin, water and one or a plurality of said vitamins and/orminerals and/or herbs to form a mixture. The resin includes any and allresins that can be made to flow under conditions of elevated temperatureand can be molded and cooled into a desired shape. Resins thereforeinclude natural and/or synthetic macromolecules or polymeric typestructures, including starch, casein, denatured and partially hydrolyzedcollagen, thermoplastic polymers, and mixtures thereof.

[0008] In alternative embodiment, the present invention also broadlyrelates to an animal chew toy comprising denatured and partiallyhydrolyzed collagen. Such chew may optionally include a mixture of saiddenatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen with either casein, starch,vegetable matter, rawhide, peanut bits/flour, animal meal and/or anyother thermoplastic resin. All of the chew toys herein may optionallyinclude flavorings or food coloring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The present invention relates to the development of a moldedresin based edible chew toy for an animal that is enriched withvitamins/minerals and/or herbs to contribute to the overall nutritionalneeds/requirements of an animal.

[0010] Turning first then to the resin component, preferably, the resinis selected from the group consisting of starch, casein, denatured andpartially hydrolyzed collagen, thermoplastic polymers and mixturesthereof. Thermoplastic polymers include polymers such as polyamides andpolyurethanes, as well as ethylene copolymers, such as poly(ethyleneacrylic acid) and poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol).

[0011] By way of representative example, in the case of starch, e.g.,the process herein relies upon combining starch with water to form amixture such that the mixture is suitable for melt processingtechniques. In that regard, attention is directed at commonly owned U.S.Pat. No. 6,159,516, whose teachings are incorporated by reference, whichdiscloses a preferred process for forming starch into the molded articleherein. The process makes use of melt processing techniques andcomprises combining starch and water wherein the water content is in therange of 20.0 to 40.0% by weight with respect to that of said starch,introducing and heating said mixture in an extruder wherein the watercontent of said product upon discharge from said extruder is less thanthe water content of said product entering said extruder, andintroducing the product to a heated injection molding machine andinjection molding and cooling to form said molded article wherein thewater content is at or below 20% by weight.

[0012] Accordingly in connection with the above preferred process, thevitamins, minerals and/or herbs can be added with the starch and waterprior to extrusion, or may optionally be combined with the starch atthat point wherein the starch is to be introduced into the injectionmolding machine for molding. It is therefore worth noting that in thecontext of the present invention, it has been uniquely appreciated thatthe vitamins, minerals and/or herb additives herein can be injectionmolded in the starch/water mixture without thermal degradation of suchadditives which degradation may attenuate or eliminate their therapeuticeffect. In the context of the present invention, it is thereforepreferable that at least some portion of the additives remainnon-degraded. Those skilled in the art will therefore recognize, that inthe case of the additives herein, levels as low as 50 ppm would besuitable.

[0013] More preferably however, at least 0.1-50% of the additives remainnon-degraded, most preferably at least 75%, even more preferably atleast 80-90%, and in the most preferred embodiment, over 90% of theadditives are not thermally degraded by the molding process. Thisapproach then allows such additives to be uniquely distributed in themolded chew toy of the present invention and in a preserved state suchthat their nutritional or therapeutic value is maintained.

[0014] Accordingly, by incorporating the aforementioned additives in astarch/water combination, the invention herein expands upon the use ofwater to promote melt mixing of such additives with the starch withoutthermal degradation during plastication (softening for use in amelt-processing operation) in either the extrusion or injection moldingequipment. Those skilled in the art will therefore recognize that theamount of water can be readily varied as may be necessary to allow forlower melt processing temperatures to insure against additive (vitamin,mineral, herb) thermal degradation. Preferably, however, the level ofwater upon introduction to the extruder is set at about 20-40% by weightwith respect to that of the starch, which emerges from the extruder at alevel of about 15-20%, at which point the extrudate is in condition forthe last step of injection molding. Following injection molding, thewater level may be set to about 5-20% by weight, and more preferably,5-15%, and in a most preferred embodiment, the water level of the moldedproduct is set to about 11-14%.

[0015] Preferably, the molded chew toy of the present invention containsone or more of those vitamins recommended for dogs by the AmericanAssociation of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). In the case of dogs,vitamins may comprise A, C, B₁₂, D, E, thiamine, riboflavin,panthothenic acid, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid and choline. In thecase of cats, the vitamins may comprise vitamins A, C, B₁₂ D, E, and K,thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, niacin, panthothenic acid, folic acid,biotin and choline.

[0016] In addition, the molded chew toy of the present invention alsocomprises minerals. In the case of dogs, the preferred minerals arecalcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron,copper, manganese, zinc, iodine, selenium. However, it is to be notedthat other trace minerals have been suggested, such as Co, Mo, Cd, As,Si, V, Ni, Pb and Sn. Furthermore, minerals such as potassium, calcium,phosphorous and magnesium are required in gram amounts/day, whereasiron, zinc, copper, iodine, and selenium are only required in mg orμg/day. The chew toy herein can therefore be modified to reflect ahigher or lower concentration of a given mineral, according tonutritional requirements.

[0017] Turning next to the herbal component, the herbs herein arepreferably selected from the group consisting of St. Johns Wort, KavaKava, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng (Asian or Siberian varieties), Echinaceaand mixtures thereof. Other herbs include Catsclaw, Camomile, GoldenSeal, Saw Palmetto, Valerina, V. Agnus-Castus, Black Cohosh, Bilberryand Milk Thistle. Herbs may also include aloe, astragalus, burdock,chaomile, chestnut, coriolus, versicolor, couchgrass, crampbark,dandelion root, dong quai, elecampane, evening primrose, eyebright,false unicorm root, feverfew, garlic ginger, goldenseal, gota kola,grape seed extract, green tea, guggulipid, hawthorn, hops, ivy,licorice, milk thistle, misteltoes (American Asian and Europeanvarieties), motherwort, oats, osha, passion flower, pumpkin pygeum, redclover, rosemary, sarsparilla, skullcap, saw plametto, stinging nettle,wild indigo, wild yam and yerba mansa. In addition, glucosamines and/orchondroiton can be added to any of the embodiments described herein.

[0018] Turning next to a consideration of the incorporation of thevitamins/minerals and/or herb additives of the present invention, it ispreferable that such additives are incorporated at the surface of themolded part, so that they are delivered to the animal prior to theanimal's loss of interest in the chew toy at issue. In such regard, thepresent invention contemplates several methods to selectively locatesuch additives at the surface of the molded product. First, suchadditives may be selectively concentrated at the surface by apost-molding operation wherein the additives are incorporated into asoaking solution and are allowed to coat and/or penetrate the moldedchew toy. Preferably, a water solution containing the vitamins/mineralsand/or herbs can be employed.

[0019] Alternatively, the present invention contemplates the process ofco-injection molding, which allows multiple resins to be injected intoone mold to make a single chew toy. In that regard, a starch formulationwithout vitamins/minerals and/or herbs may serve as the core of the chewtoy and a starch formulation with said vitamins/minerals and/or herbsmay serve as the outer molded surface. The thickness of either the coreor surface can then be varied according to any desired level.

[0020] With reference to such technique of co-injection, it can beappreciated that this uniquely allows for the injection molding of thestarch outer layer with additive (vitamin, mineral, herb) underconditions wherein the water level may be higher than that of the core.For example, the outer layer formulation may comprise water levels,prior to injection molding of between 10-20%, preferably 15-20%, whereinthe starch/water mixture for the core is made to contain water levelsthat are lower than any level selected for the outer layer. However, onepreferred example is to injection mold the outer layer at a level ofbetween 15-20% water, whereas the inner core is injection molded atlevels between 10-15%.

[0021] In addition, when the chew toy of the present invention is in theshape of a conventional dog bone, comprising a center and two endportions, those skilled in the art will recognize that dogs typicallychew the end or “knuckle” portion of the bone. That being the case, theinvention herein contemplates selectively concentrating thevitamins/minerals and/or herbs at the end portion to insure the mostefficient delivery of the nutrients to a given animal. This can bepreferably accomplished by co-injection or by a the aforementionedpost-molding soaking process.

[0022] In one particularly preferred process of manufacturing the animalchew toy herein, starch and water are first combined wherein the watercontent is in the range of 20 to about 40% by weight with respect tothat of said starch. The mixture is introduced into a vented barrelextruder to form extruded beads, wherein the water content upondischarge is less than the water content of said mixture entering theextruder. The is followed by introduction of the extruded beads to aheated injection molding machine containing a mold and injection moldingand cooling to form the molded article wherein the water content of themolded article is at or below about 20% by weight, wherein the injectionmolding machine contains a hopper feed section, a barrel and an outputnozzle, including a plurality of heating zones in said barrel extendingfrom said hopper section to said nozzle, wherein said plurality ofheating zones are set within the following temperature ranges: zone 1=ator below about 70° F.; zone 2=at or below 150° F.; zone 3=at or belowabout 300° F.; zone 4=at or below about 375° F. Preferably, the molditself is cooled to about 35-65° F.

[0023] In connection with the above, it should be pointed out that theabove temperature profile is most conveniently achieved by the use ofcooling coils placed about the barrel of the injection molding machine,where such coils comprise copper cooling coils with circulating water.The advantage of such unique temperature profile, therefore, is thatthermal degradation of the starch and the nutritional additives notedherein is minimized.

[0024] Finally, optional to the present invention, one may incorporateother types of components to the chew toy to increase the animal'sattraction and/or improve the cosmetic appearance of the molded product.For example, one may optionally incorporate flavorings at a level of0.1-5% as well as a food coloring. In addition, one may optionallyincorporate calcium carbonate which has been found to increase thehardness of the products produced therefrom. In addition, one mayoptionally incorporate a humectant such as oat fiber, in the range of0.1-5.0%.

[0025] In alternative invention, the present invention also relates to achew comprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen. Thoseskilled in the art will therefore recognize that collagen comprises thebasic structural unit tropocollagen, which has a mass of about 285 kdaland consists of three polypeptide chains of about the same size. Suchchain is comprised of the amino acids glycine, proline, hydroxyprolineand hydroxylysine. The chain composition can depend upon on the type ofcollagen, i.e., whether or not it is derived from, e.g., skin orcartilage. Any type of collagen source is suitable herein.

[0026] Denatured collagen is reference to the fact that the collagen,when subjected to extremes of temperature or acid or alkalineconditions, denatures and separates into three polypeptide chains. Thepolypeptide is then partially hydrolyzed to a desired molecular weight,and dried or compounded for the application herein.

[0027] In preferred embodiment, the denatured and partially hydrolyzedcollagen is made available from International Protein Colloids, St.Joseph Mo., and sold under the trademark COLLOID 3920. COLLOID 3920 isavailable in dry granular form, particle size 20 mesh, of amber color,pH 5.5-6.5 in solution, with a moisture content of between 8-12% (wt.).

[0028] In accordance with the present invention, it has been found thatit is preferable to mix the denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagenwith another resin, such as casein, starch, vegetable matter, animalmeal, peanut bits/flour, or a synthetic polymer resin, such as athermoplastic resin, including polyamides and or polyurethanes, as wellas ethylene copolymers, such as poly(ethylene acrylic acid) and/orpoly(ethylene vinyl alcohol). In such regard, the mixture has been foundto lend itself to melt processing under pressure, which includesextrusion, injection molding and/or compression molding techniques.Accordingly, one can prepare injection molded type chew toys herein,comprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen, as well asmolded chew toys that combine such collagen with the various componentsnoted above.

[0029] In addition, in the case of such mixtures of denatured andpartially hydrolyzed collagen with, e.g., vegetable matter, animal meal,peanut bits/flour, rawhide, casein or starch, it has been foundpreferable to combine with any one of these components at levels of upto 50%, as well as at any percentage between 0.1-50%. Preferably, and byway of representative example, in the case of a mixture with rawhide, ithas been found preferable to incorporate about 25% of the denatured andpartially hydrolyzed collagen with rawhide, and in a most preferableform, about 15% of denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen is mixedwith rawhide.

[0030] This invention has been set forth in detail, but it should beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the various examples hereinare by way of illustration only. Modifications and variation willtherefore be apparent and may be resorted to without departing from thespirit and equivalent scope of this invention. Accordingly, suchmodifications and equivalents are considered to be within the purview ofthe scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vitamin, mineral and herbal enriched animalchew toy formed by: (a) combining resin, water and one or a plurality ofvitamins, one or a plurality of minerals and one or a plurality of herbsto form a mixture; (b) introducing and heating said mixture to a heatedmolding machine and molding and cooling to form said chew toy whereinthe water content of said chew toy is adjusted so that a portion of saidvitamins, minerals and herbs are not thermally degraded by said molding.2. The animal chew toy of claim 1 wherein said heated molding machinecomprises an injection molding machine or an extruder.
 3. The animalchew toy of claim 1 wherein said resin is selected from the groupconsisting of starch, casein, denatured and partially hydrolyzedcollagen, thermoplastic polymers and mixtures thereof.
 4. The animalchew toy of claim 3 wherein said starch is potato starch or corn starch.5. The animal chew toy of claim 1 where said resin comprises a mixtureof starch and thermoplastic polymer, said thermoplastic polymercomprising an ethylene copolymer.
 6. The animal chew toy of claim 5wherein said ethylene copolymer is selected from the group consisting ofpoly(ethylene acrylic acid), poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) and mixturesthereof.
 7. The animal chew toy of claim 1 wherein 0.1-50% of saidvitamins, minerals and herbs are not thermally degraded.
 8. The animalchew of claim 1 wherein said water content of said mixture introduced tosaid injection molding machine is at or below 20% by weight.
 9. Theanimal chew of claim 1 wherein said vitamins are selected from the groupconsisting of vitamins A, C, D, E, B₁₂, thiamine, riboflavin,panthothenic acid, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, choline and mixturesthereof.
 10. The animal chew toy of claim 1 further includingglucosamine or chondroiton.
 11. The animal chew of claim 1 wherein saidminerals are selected from the group consisting of calcium, phosphorus,potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc,iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, cadmium, arsenic, silicon,vanadium, nickel, lead, tin and mixtures thereof.
 12. The animal chew ofclaim 1 wherein said herbs are selected from the group consisting of St.Johns Wort, Kava Kava, Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, Catsclaw,Camomile, Golden Seal, Exhinacea and mixtures thereof.
 13. A herbalenriched animal chew toy formed by: (a) combining resin, water and oneor a plurality of herbs to form a mixture; (b) introducing and heatingsaid mixture to a heated molding machine and molding and cooling to formsaid chew toy.
 14. The animal chew toy of claim 13 wherein said resin isselected from the group consisting of starch, casein, denatured andpartially hydrolyzed collagen, thermoplastic polymers and mixturesthereof.
 15. The animal chew toy of claim 14 wherein said resincomprises a mixture of starch and thermoplastic polymer, saidthermoplastic polymer comprising an ethylene copolymer.
 16. The animalchew toy of claim 15 wherein said ethylene copolymer is selected fromthe group consisting of poly(ethylene acrylic acid), poly(ethylene vinylalcohol) and mixtures thereof.
 17. The animal chew of claim 13 whereinsaid molding machine is an injection molding machine or an extruder. 18.The chew toy of claim 13 wherein the water content of said chew toy isadjusted so that said herbs are not thermally degraded by said molding.19. The chew toy of claim 13 wherein said herbs are not thermallydegraded by more than 50%.
 20. The animal chew of claim 13 wherein saidwater content of said mixture introduced to said injection moldingmachine is at or below 20% by weight.
 21. The animal chew of claim 13wherein said herbs are selected from the group consisting of St. JohnsWort, Kava Kava, Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, Catsclaw, Camomile,Golden Seal, Exhinacea and mixtures thereof.
 22. The animal chew toy ofclaim 13 further including glucosamine or chondroiton.
 23. The animalchew of claim 13 wherein said chew toy is in the shape of a dog bonecomprising a center portion and an end portion, and said herbs areselectively concentrated in said end portion.
 24. A vitamin, mineral orherbal enriched animal chew toy formed by: (a) combining resin, waterand one or a plurality of vitamins, or one or a plurality of minerals,or one of a plurality of herbs to form a mixture; (b) introducing andheating said mixture to a heated molding machine and molding and coolingto form said chew toy wherein the water content of said chew toy is ator below 20% by weight, wherein said chew toy is in the form of a dogbone comprising a center portion and an end portion, and wherein saidvitamins, minerals or herbs are selectively concentrated at said endportion.
 25. The animal chew of claim 24 wherein said molding machine isan injection molding machine or an extruder.
 26. The animal chew toy ofclaim 24 wherein said resin is selected from the group consisting ofstarch, casein, denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen,thermoplastic polymers and mixtures thereof.
 27. The animal chew toy ofclaim 24 wherein said resin comprises a mixture of starch andthermoplastic polymer, said thermoplastic polymer comprising an ethylenecopolymer.
 28. The animal chew toy of claim 27 wherein said ethylenecopolymer is selected from the group consisting of poly(ethylene acrylicacid), poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) and mixtures thereof.
 29. The chewtoy of claim 24 wherein said vitamins are selected from the groupconsisting of vitamins A, C, D, E, thiamine, riboflavin, panthothenicacid, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, choline and mixturesthereof.
 30. The chew toy of claim 24 wherein said herbs are selectedfrom the group consisting of St. Johns Wort, Kava Kava, Echinacea,Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, Catsclaw, Camomile, Golden Seal, Exhinacea andmixtures thereof.
 31. The chew toy of claim 24 further includingglucosamine or chondroiton.
 32. The animal chew toy of claim 24 whereinsaid minerals are selected from the group consisting of calcium,phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, copper,manganese, zinc, iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, cadmium, arsenic,silicon, vanadium, nickel, lead, tin and mixtures thereof.
 33. Avitamin, mineral or herbal enriched animal chew toy formed by: (a)combining resin, water and one or a plurality of vitamins, or one or aplurality of minerals, or one or a plurality of herbs to form a mixture;(b) introducing and heating said mixture to a heated injection moldingmachine and injection molding and cooling to form said chew toy whereinthe water content of said chew toy is at or below 20% by weight, andwherein said vitamins, minerals or herbs in said chew toy areselectively concentrated at the surface of said chew toy.
 34. The animalchew toy of claim 33 wherein said resin is selected from the groupconsisting of starch, casein, denatured and partially hydrolyzedcollagen, thermoplastic polymers and mixtures thereof.
 35. The animalchew toy of claim 33 wherein said heated molding machine comprises aninjection molding machine or an extruder.
 36. The animal chew toy ofclaim 33 where said resin comprises a mixture of starch andthermoplastic polymer, said thermoplastic polymer comprising an ethylenecopolymer.
 37. The animal chew toy of claim 36 wherein said resincomprise a mixture of starch and thermoplastic polymer, saidthermoplastic polymer comprising an ethylene copolymer.
 38. The animalchew toy of claim 37 wherein said thermoplastic polymer comprises anethylene copolymer.
 39. The animal chew toy of claim 38 wherein saidethylene copolymer is selected from the group consisting ofpoly(ethylene acrylic acid), poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) and mixturesthereof.
 40. The animal chew toy of claim 36 wherein said vitamins areselected from the group consisting of vitamins A, C, D, E, B₁₂ thiamine,riboflavin, panthothenic acid, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, cholineand mixtures thereof.
 41. The animal chew of claim 36 further includingglucosamine or chondroiton.
 42. The animal chew toy of claim 36 whereinsaid minerals are selected from the group consisting of calcium,phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, copper,manganese, zinc, iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, cadmium, arsenic,silicon, vanadium, nickel, lead, tin and mixtures thereof.
 43. Theanimal chew toy of claim 36 wherein the herbs are selected from thegroup consisting of St. Johns Wort, Kava Kava, Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba,Ginseng, Catsclaw, Camomile, Golden Seal, Exhinacea and mixturesthereof.
 44. An animal chew toy comprising starch and one or a pluralityof herbs.
 45. The animal chew toy of claim 44 wherein said herbs areselected from the group consisting of St. Johns Wort, Kava Kava,Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, Catsclaw, Camomile, Golden Seal,Exhinacea and mixtures thereof.
 46. The animal chew toy of claim 44,further comprising one or a plurality of vitamins.
 47. The animal chewtoy of claim 46, wherein said vitamins are selected from the groupconsisting of vitamins A, B₁₂, C, D, C, E, thiamine, riboflavin,panthothenic acid, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, choline and mixturesthereof.
 48. The animal chew toy of claim 44 further comprising one or aplurality of minerals.
 49. The animal chew toy of claim 44 wherein saidminerals are selected from the group consisting of calcium, phosphorus,potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc,iodine, selenium, cobalt, molybdenum, cadmium, arsenic, silicon,vanadium, nickel, lead, tin and mixtures thereof.
 50. An animal chew toycomprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen.
 51. The animalchew toy of claim 50 wherein said collagen comprises tropocollagen. 52.The animal chew of claim 50 wherein said collagen is comprised ofglycine, proline, hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine.
 53. The animal chewtoy of claim 50 wherein said partially hydrolyzed collagen comprises apolypeptide.
 54. The animal chew toy of claim 50 wherein a flavoring ispresent in the amount of about 0.1-5%.
 55. The animal chew toy of claim50 wherein said flavoring comprises a meat flavoring.
 56. An animal chewcomprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen and vegetablematter.
 57. The animal chew of claim 56 wherein said vegetable mattercomprises spinach, carrots, broccoli, beans, peas and mixtures thereof.58. The animal chew of claim 56 wherein said partially hydrolyzedcollagen is present at a level of about 1-50%.
 59. An animal chewcomprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen and animal meal.60. The animal chew of claim 59, wherein said partially hydrolyzedcollagen is present at about 1-50% by weight.
 61. The animal chew ofclaim 59 wherein said animal meal comprises poultry meal, beef meal,horse meal, fish meal or mixtures thereof.
 62. An animal chew comprisingdenatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen and rawhide.
 63. The animalchew of claim 62, wherein said denatured and partially hydrolyzedcollagen is present at about 1-50% by weight.
 64. An animal chewcomprising denatured and partially hydrolyzed collagen and peanutbits/flour.
 65. The animal chew of claim 64 wherein said denatured andpartially hydrolyzed collagen is present at a level of about 1-50%.